That's the Way It Is
by TheOtherAvenger
Summary: Soulmate slight AU, similar to Burnt. In the Shadow world, everyone has a soulmate. They are born with their soulmate's initials on their arm and the letters become readable around the time they turn eleven. When you meet them, the letters turn gold and as you live your life, a pattern forms. Malec and Clace with a handful of OCs. T for angst.
1. Chapter 1

**New story time! Yay! My friend and I finished writing this story a few days ago, so now I'm publishing it. If you've read my story Burnt, this has the same type of soulmate AU. We also each put in a handful of OCs. I hope you like it. I'll try to update every day. I'll put a reminder alarm on my phone. Brownie points if you understand the title reference.**

 **Ships: Clace, Malec, Simon/OC, Izzy/OC, Jonathan/OC, Raphael/OC**

 **Warnings: This story contains lot of angst. It also contains some language and violence.**

 **Disclaimer: We do not own anything other than the OCs and the non-cannon parts of the plot.  
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"Happy birthday, sis." Jess smiles at Clary as she walks into the kitchen for breakfast. "Ready to have fun tonight?"

"I am, I just hope everything goes well at the college," Clary says, sitting next to her sister.

"Your art is amazing. They'll practically beg you to go to their school," Jess says, drinking her cocoa.

"I hope you're right," Clary smiles, taking toast from Luke.

"Morning Dad," Jess says, looking over at Luke. "Big case? You didn't get home until really late last night."

"It's a huge case and the station is on high alert," Luke sighs. "Happy birthday Clary."

"Thanks, Luke," Clary says.

"To think you're 18 now, it feels like it was yesterday when you turned three."

"Seems like yesterday she was born," Jocelyn says, walking into the kitchen. "But you weren't there for that. Now, that was an adventure." She pours herself a cup of coffee and puts a bagel into the toaster.

"Mom," Clary sighs with a smile.

"You were an adorable baby." Jocelyn smiles at her daughter. "Look at you now. Turning 18 and applying to college. I feel old."

"Speaking of college, I better go or I'll be late," Clary says, finishing her juice. "I'll see you at the cafe right, Jess?"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world," Jess says and smirks, but she's facing away from Clary, so her sister can't see.

"Bye," Clary says, leaving the apartment.

"Why are you smirking?" Luke asks his daughter.

"Simon's got a plan," Jess says. "Should be fun to watch. Although, you know Clary's actual soulmate is out there somewhere. When are you going to tell her the truth?"

"I plan on telling her tonight," Jocelyn says.

"Well, I better get to work," Luke says, filling his travel mug with coffee. "I'll see you later, okay?"

"Have a good day," Jocelyn says.

"I'll try," Luke says, leaving the apartment and heading down to the police station.

"Well, I gotta go meet up with Simon," Jess says, finishing her breakfast. "I told him I'd help him come up with a new name for his band."

"Have a good day, keep an eye on the two of them," Jocelyn says. "And isn't Simon looking for a female singer?"

"Yeah, why?" Jess asks. "I can't exactly sing."

"Maybe you can help him find a singer as well, I'm sure he will be happy with the help."

"Nothing like listening to a bunch of Mundane girls sing and hit on Simon, who is completely oblivious to it all," Jess says. "See you later, Mom."

Clary smiles as she heads to the art school she applied to, today is very important, she's been looking at this school for a long time. As she walks towards the door, she accidently runs into someone both dropping their things.

"I am so sorry!" The other girl says, picking up Clary's work.

"It's alright, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going," Clary says, handing the other girl's things back to her. "I'm Clary."

"Gabrielle," the girl smiles, handing Clary her things. "You're here for art?"

"Yeah. If they like what I show them, I get in. It's been my dream for years to go to art school. And this one is close to my house, so I can still help my mom with the store."

"I'm sure you will get in, I'm here for dance. I have always been a dancer, mom said I was dancing before I could walk. This is my best bet since it's close to where I live and I can work at my mother's shop."

"Your mother has a shop too? That's so weird," Clary says. "Mine sells antiques and stuff like that."

"My mother owns a flower shop." Gabrielle smiles.

Clary notices the other girl's wrist and the two letters on it "Who's JM?"

"Oh, I am not sure. I've asked my mother why I have it but she won't tell me," Gabrielle notices Clary's wrist too. "Who's JH?"

"What?" Clary asks.

"On your wrist."

"Where?" Clary asks, looking at her arm. "I don't see anything."

"Really? It's right here." Gabrielle points at her left wrist where she sees the initials.

"I better go in before I'm late," Clary says, walking into the school and up to the three people sitting at a table.

After an hour, Clary leaves the school with great news. Once again, she bumps into someone, Gabrielle. The two talk about the school since they both got great news.

"Well, I guess I'll see you around," Clary says. "I have to go meet up with my sister and my best friend."

"Yea, have fun with your sister and friend. Stop by the flower shop if you want, my mom would love to meet a fellow shop owner," Gabrielle says.

"It was nice to meet you," Clary says, heading over to Java Jones to join Simon and Jess.

"After six auditions, not one is what we are looking for." Simon sighs.

"You just have to keep looking," Jess tells him. "There's lots of girls in New York City."

"I know, but it feels as if she's around here somewhere. We need the singer for our next gig."

"Why can't you just do the singing, Simon?" Clary asks. "You're really good at it."

"If I could hit the high notes, I would, but I can't go that high without ruining my voice," Simon says.

"Then just keep looking," Jess says as the waitress comes over.

"Ready to order?" she asks.

"Yeah. Can I get a large hot chocolate?" Jess asks her.

"Of course, and you?" She turns to Clary.

"Coffee," Clary says.

"I'll have a coffee too, extra strong," Simon says.

The woman nods and goes to make their order.

"So, Clary," Simon starts. "I uh…"

"Um...excuse me?" a voice asks.

The three of them turn to look at the newcomer. She has long chestnut hair and hazel eyes and she's wearing an AC/DC shirt.

"Can we help you?" Jess asks her.

"I saw this, and I was hoping to audition." She holds up the flyer.

"Auditions ended ten minutes ago," Jess tells her.

"Oh."

"It's alright, why don't you show us what you can do?" Simon asks her. "We didn't find anyone yet."

She pulls out her guitar and begins to sing.

"Wow," Simon says after she finishes.

"Was that good?"

"That was amazing," Simon says. "What's your name?"

"Marinette."

"Well, Marinette, welcome to the band. I'll let you know the name of the band once I decide what to rename it to," Simon tells her. "I'm Simon."

"Thank you, Simon," Marinette smiles.

"I'll see you around, then," Simon says, handing her a piece of paper with his number on it.

"See you around, it was nice to meet you." She waves as she leaves the cafe.

"She's totally into you, Simon," Clary tells him and gently elbows him.

"What?" Simon asks, turning towards Clary.

"Are you really that oblivious? You should ask her out," Clary tells him, finishing her coffee.

"Ask her out? Why? She just joined the band."

"So? Get to know her a little better, then ask her out. You guys would be so cute together. You could sing love songs and what not," Clary says and stands up. "I'll see you guys tonight at the club."

"Jess? Should I ask...I mean...technically we do have a gig at the club tonight," Simon says.

"Simon, I know you like Clary, but maybe you should move on. This new girl seems really nice." Jess sips her cocoa.

"I really don't have a chance with Clary, do I?" Simon sighs, sipping his coffee.

"You have no idea," Jess says.

Later that night, the three friends meet up outside the Pandemonium Club for Simon's concert.

Clary is standing outside waiting when someone runs into her. "Watch where you're going."

The man looks at her, a bit confused before walking away.

"I'm talking to you!" Clary exclaims. "No need to be so rude!"

"Is something wrong Clary?" Marinette asks, walking up.

"That blonde guy ran into me and didn't apologize," Clary says, pointing at him.

"What blonde guy?"

"The one in the black with all the tattoos," Clary says. "He's hard to miss."

"I didn't see him," Marinette says.

"He just walked inside." Clary takes off her hoodie. "Come on, let's go inside. I could use a drink."

"Okay, we should set up anyway," Marinette agrees. "Also...I don't think that other girl likes me very much."

"Who, Jess?" Clary asks.

"No, the other girl in the band."

"Maureen?" Clary asks. "She has a thing for Simon, but he doesn't like her back."

"Oh."

"She'll warm up to you, don't worry," Clary says. "Com on, let's go inside."

They all head inside and Simon and his band get things together on stage to start the music. Jess and Clary are by the bar, unaware that they are being watched by Magnus Bane.

"Hey, there's that blonde guy again." Clary points at Jace. "The rude one from outside."

"I don't see anyone," Jess lies, looking right at Jace, who she know pretty well.

"Clary? You're here too?" Gabrielle asks, walking up with a box full of flowers.

"Yeah. My best friend is in the band," Clary tells her. "Gabrielle, this is my sister, Jess. Jess, this is Gabrielle. I met her outside the school."

"Nice to meet you," Jess says, looking at her, noticing the initials on wrist. Clary can't see Jess's runes, but if this girl can, they may have a problem.

"Nice to meet you as well Jess," Gabrielle smiles. "I like your tattoos, they're just like my mother's."

"Tattoos?" Clary asks, confused.

"Yea, they're on her arms. C-can't you see them?"

"Jess doesn't have any tattoos. Her dad would kill her," Clary says. "I don't understand…"

"How are we doing, ladies?" Magnus asks, walking up, having overheard the conversation and knowing the situation.

"Oh! Mr. Bane, I have your flower orders for you," Gabrielle says, remembering why she came.

"Thank you," Magnus says. "Why don't I give you a hand with that?"

"Oh, it's no problem. Where would you like me to place the flowers?"

"Here, I'll show you," Magnus says and the pair walk off.

"Jess?" Clary asks. "Why did she say that you have tattoos?"

"I don't know. You can obviously see that I don't have any tattoos. That girls is just a little odd," Jess says, ordering a drink.

"I guess so, I saw something on her wrist and she said she doesn't know where it came from," Clary says.

"What do you mean?" Jess asks her, knowing very well what Clary meant. She had two letter on her wrist as well, but she had yet to find someone with hers.

"Two letters, JM I believe it was. I wonder why she has them and doesn't know herself."

"That's odd," Jess says, watching Jace, Alec, and Izzy move through the club.

Clary watches them too, she excuses herself and discreetly follows the group.

"Clary? What are you doing?" Gabrielle asks her friend.

"Following the blonde guy," Clary tells her, keeping her eyes on Jace.

"Wow, is that natural or bleached?" Gabrielle comments, seeing Jace.

"That can't be natural," Clary says, following Jace and his friends into a private area.

"That girl is obviously wearing a wig," Gabrielle whispers, following Clary.

Jace walks up behind a girl in the room and starts talking to her, then pulls out a blade.

"Look out!" Clary and Gabrielle yell.

The woman backs away from Jace and her friends start to fight with Alec and Izzy with Clary and Gabrielle in the middle of everything. They both are very confused by what is going on.

Alec stabs one of the demons and it evaporates into nothing.

"W-what the?" Gabrielle asks, seeing it disappear.

One of the demons knocks Jace over and he drops his blade, which stops glowing and just looks like a cylinder. The demon knocks Jace to the ground and he struggles with it.

Clary picks up the dropped blade and it lights back up, stabbing into the demon on top of Jace and causing it to evaporate and Clary to scream.

"C-clary...we..should run!" Gabrielle says.

"Good idea!" Clary exclaims and the two girls take off running out of the club.

They both head to Clary's home, when they get there, they are surprised to see another woman there.

"M-mom?" Gabrielle asks. "B-but why are you here?"

"Where's my mom?" Clary asks the woman. "What's going on here?"

"Your mother is here, we figured this day would come when you two would meet," Gabrielle's mother says.

"What are you talking about? Why does she think that my sister has tattoos? And we just watched some people kill people. And I accidently killed someone!" Clary exclaims.

"It wasn't a human, Clarissa. It was a demon and your sister does have marks like these," Maria shows her runes on her upper arm.

"I don't see anything."

"Guys, we've got a problem." Dot runs into the room. "They've found us. They'll be here any second. We have to set the plan into motion."

"Jocelyn! We need to get the girls to safety!" Maria calls.

"Dot, open the portal," Jocelyn says, appearing into the room. She goes over to Clary and pushed something into ther pocket, then puts a necklace around her neck. "You need to get to Luke. Tell him the Circle found us. Trust no one but Luke. Do you understand, Clary?"

"Mom, what's going on?" Clary asks, seeing Gabrielle is given things as well.

"Where's Luke right now, Clary?" Jocelyn asks her daughter, ignoring the question.

"T-the station."

"I love you," Jocelyn says, then pushed Clary through the portal.

"Find Antonio, stay with Clary alright?" Maria says to Gabrielle. "I love you." She also pushes Gabrielle into the portal.

The two girls end up at the police station and look at each other, very confused as to what is happening.

"We should go inside," Gabrielle finally says.

Clary nods and they head into the station and towards Luke's desk, hoping that he'll have some sort of answer.

"I have nothing to tell you," Luke says, making the girls stop.

"You and your daughter have been around Jocelyn for years. She even calls Jocelyn her mother. You have to know where it is," a voice says.

"She wouldn't tell me, and I only let my daughter around her so she had a female figure in her life, that's it."

"Fifteen years and you've got nothing? I don't buy it. What do you know, Greymark?"

"I know that Maria and her daughter are alive, despite Valentine's attempt to kill them," Luke says.

"Impossible," the voice says. "There's no way they could have survived that fire."

"I'm not sure how they did either, but they are alive. Maria runs a flower shop."

"Where?" the voice asks. "If you help us, maybe Valentine will spare you instead of putting you down like the rest of your filthy kind."

"The high end flower shop, it's hard to miss," Luke says, crossing his arms. "That's all I have for you, now I have to get back to work."

Clary turns around and runs out of the police station and gets separated from Gabrielle, making her way back home to her mother. But when she gets there, the apartment is empty and a mess. "Hello? Mom?"

"Clary," Dot says. "You shouldn't be here."

"Where's my mother? What happened? What's going on? How did I just end up at the police station?" Clary asks her, rapidfire.

"Oh, Clary, you should have stayed with your friend," Dot says, her voice getting darker.

"Dot? What's going on?" Clary asks, backing away from her friend.

Dot says nothing as she attacks Clary, turning into a demon right in front of her.

Clary tries to run away but ends up cornered by the demon. "Dot, please don't kill me."

That's when the demon evaporates in front of Clary's eyes and the blonde guy is standing in front of her, a blade in his hand. "You're welcome."

"H-how did you know?" Clary asks, taking deep breaths.

"I didn't. I came to find you to find out what you are and how you can see me and still not understand what's going on," Jace tells her. "I'm Jace."

"W-what I don't understand is that my friend and I can see what others can't and we both witnessed you and your friends kill things! Then I'm sent through a portal and Dot was a monster," Clary rambles.

"Are you alright? You look really pale," Jace tells her.

"I feel...dizzy." Clary says, then collapses.

Jace catches her before she falls over and then sets her down on the couch gently. "I hope I'm right about you." He pulls out his stele and draws a healing rune on her neck before lifting her back up and carrying her to the Institute and into the world that her mother had tried so hard to shelter her from.


	2. Chapter 2

**Greetings, readers! Sorry about not posting yesterday. I had a lot on my mind and Wednesdays are busy as is. But, here's chapter 2! I hope you enjoy it. It explains the soulmate thing a lot. In case you were wondering, this story has 20 chapters and an epilogue.**

 **Warnings: Angst and mild langauge**

 **Disclaimer: We'd like to be rich, world famous authors, but we're sadly just two college kids having some fun.**

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Jess sits at her sister's bedside in the infirmary, waiting for her to wake up. She looks over at Jace, who is sprawled out on one of the chairs, looking impatient, as usual. "You don't need to be here. Why don't you go bother Alec or something?"

"Just to make sure she doesn't panic and think all of it was a dream," Jace says. "When did Izzy say Toni will be back from patrol?"

"I don't know. She was talking to you, not me. And don't you think it'll be better for her to talk to her sister when she wakes up instead of a narcissistic blonde guy that she doesn't know?" Jess asks him.

"And think everything that happened was a bad dream? Nah, I'll just sit here, you can talk," Jace says, leaning back.

"Jace, it's not her. Her wrist says JH, not JW. Sorry to disappoint you," Jess says. "I'd rather you go sleep around with one of your bimbos than mess around with my little sister."

"Jess, it's not about that. I need to be sure she will be okay after what happened."

"Her mother is one of us. I told you," Jess says, but knows that the only person that can win an argument with Jace is Alec.

"I know, also Hodge told me to stay here. I rather not anger that man, remember what happened last time?" Jace says.

"You're the only one that can make him mad," Jess reminds him. "He's pretty even tempered."

"Izzy!" Jace calls, seeing her walk by. "When is your man going to be back?"

"Don't call him that, it sounds creepy. And he'll be back soon. He's finishing up his patrol." Izzy climbs the stairs to the infirmary. "Your girlfriend still isn't awake yet?"

"She's not my girlfriend," Jace says. "And no, she's still out of it."

"Huh. That's weird. I thought for sure she'd be awake by now," Izzy says. "What kind of demon did you say attacked her?"

"A shapeshifter, it took the form of some woman named Dot," Jace reminds.

"Well, I hope she wakes up soon," Izzy says. "It'll be nice to have another girl around."

"Damn, where did she go?" Gabrielle breathes, leaning against a wall. "I..I should hide somewhere, but where?" Gabrielle stands straight and looks around, she must have gotten lost when she ran off because she doesn't recognize anything around her. "Great, just what I need," she sighs. "Way to go Stark, you got lost." As she begins to walk, she notices a familiar figure, it's one of the men who were at the station. Gabrielle freezes, what is she going to do?

"Yeah, boss, we've got a lead," the man says on the phone, walking towards Gabrielle.

"Oh no," She whispers, backing up slowly but that's all she can do. "Please...someone help.."

There's no one around, though. Not that she can see. The Circle Member keeps heading in her general direction, not seeing her yet. Gabrielle continues to back up, looking for somewhere to hide, but there aren't many places.

Suddenly, someone grabs her, then the next thing she knows, she's on the roof of the nearest building. She gasps and falls to the floor, she looks up at who helped her.

"Sorry about that," the boy says, rolling up his sleeves, revealing his rune covered arms. "Couldn't let that asshole find you."

"You...you're like the others," Gabrielle says.

"I'm a Shadowhunter, yes," he says. "We all have runes. They give us power. Who else do you know that can jump onto a 10 story building?"

"A shadowhunter? What is that?" she asks.

"We hunt demons and protect the mundanes," he says. "We keep our world secret."

"Mundanes...I hear my mother say that, she usually said it after a very nasty customer left," Gabrielle says, standing up.

"Mundanes are normal people," he tells her. "I'm Toni."

"I'm Gabrielle."

"Nice to meet you. Where are you headed? I can escort you there. It's rare that I find people with the Sight that I don't know about," Toni says.

"Um...actually my mother told me to find Antonio, I think that's my older brother's name...but I thought he was dead," Gabrielle says.

"My name is Antonio, but I don't have a sister. It's just my father and I. I can take you to the Institute. Although, Alec might skin me alive if I do," Toni says.

"Oh, well I'm sure no one has a weird last name like me anyway," Gabrielle shrugs. "Going anywhere then my mother's shop is good, those men are after me."

"By weird, do you mean compound?" Toni asks

"Yea, it is. Starkweather, strange don't you think? I normally go by Stark," Gabrielle tells him.

"That's my last name. All Shadowhunters have compound last names. Follow me," Toni says.

"How do you expect me to get down from here? I may be strong but I doubt I can get down."

"This might hurt a little," Toni says, pulling something out of his pocket. "Give me your arm."

She gives him a look before holding out her right arm.

He uses his stele to draw a rune on her arm.

"Ow, but cool," Gabrielle says.

"Follow me." Toni jumps onto the roof of the next building.

Gabrielle follows Toni the entire way to the institute, they don't really say much to one another.

He jumps off one final building and lands in front of what looks like a really old church at first glance.

Gabrielle doesn't question it.

"Here," he says, and draws another rune on her, allowing her to see that Institute as it truly is.

"Whoa," Gabrielle says, looking at the Institute.

"Come on, let's get inside," Toni says, pushing open the door. The building is buzzing with people. Toni leads her through the building and into the library. "Dad?"

"The girl has no place to go, Alec," Hodge's voice says from inside the library. "We have to let her stay here. She's one of us."

"Fine, but if one more comes I say we kick them out while we still have time," Alec says.

"Alec, for all you know the next stranger in the door could be MB," Hodge says. "You're 21. It's really odd that you haven't found her yet."

"I doubt my soulmate is a Mundane."

"The girl is not a Mundane. I knew her mother at the Academy," Hodge tells him. "She just needs training."

"I mean, no more mundanes in the insti-"

"Dad!" Toni calls.

"Down here, Toni," Hodge says. "I will see you later, Alec. Try to be nice to her. Jace seems to like her."

"Fine," Alec sighs, leaving the library.

"How can I help you, Toni?" Hodge asks, his back still to his son as he re shelves a couple of books.

"I found another hunter while I was on patrol," Toni says. "The Circle is after her and she said her last name is Starkweather."

"You found Gabrielle?" Hodge says. "I thought she and your mother had been killed by the Circle years ago."

"Dad, how did you know her name?" he asks as Gabrielle walks up next to Toni.

"Your father knows my name?" Gabrielle asks.

"You're twins," Hodge tells the pair.

"Twins!?" the pair yell.

"Yes, twins. When things went south, your mother took Gabrielle and ran," Hodge says.

"But why not find you dad?" Gabrielle asks. "I've spent my entire life thinking that you were dead."

"Your mother must have made the same assumption about Antonio and I that I did about you and your mother," Hodge says.

"Oh, well...what am I to do now? Mom is gone, taken by the Circle," Gabrielle says.

"They took Maria too? Taking Jocelyn I understand because she took the Cup and no one else knows where it is," Hodge tells them, sitting down at a circular table in the library.

"I heard Mom once saying over the phone that she is keeping a cup safe, I wasn't sure what she was talking about but maybe it's what Jocelyn took," Gabrielle says, walking to the table with Toni. "Mom and Jocelyn seem to know each other well."

"It doesn't make sense. Maria and Jocelyn were never close at school. I'm surprised she gave it to anyone, but if she did, my first guess would have been Lucian," Hodge says, surprise in his voice. "Regardless, we need to find the Cup. Do you have any idea where it would be?"

"I don't know, it could be anywhere between Mom's flower shop and Jocelyn's shop," Gabrielle says.

"I'll send the team in the morning," Hodge says. "Even Alec can't argue about finding the Cup."

"Oh yea, do you know anything about this?" She shows her left wrist with JM.

"They're your soulmate's initials," Hodge tells her. "It's just something Shadowhunters and Downworlders are born with. J might be Jonathan, but I'm not really sure about the M. There's a lot of Shadowhunter families and I haven't traced all the bloodlines."

"Okay, how will I know when I meet him?"

"Well, for one, he'll have your initials on his wrist. And two, Antonio, show your sister your wrist."

Toni rolls up his sleeve. The letters IL are now golden and have formed a sort of artistic design around them.

"Wow."

"Izzy's is the same. All couples have different designs and the longer you're together, the more intricate it gets," Toni explains to her.

"I see, so when I meet him the design will show up?" Gabrielle inquiries.

"When you meet him, the letters turn from black to gold. Then once you get to know each other, the font changes to their handwriting. Then the design slowly starts to form. First dates, first kiss, first I love you, stuff like that makes the design grow," Toni tells her.

Gabrielle nods her head, now she knows why she has these letters on her arm. She wonders who could have GS on his arm.

"It has to be her, Alec," Jace says, looking at the girl, who is starting to wake up. "I don't care about the H." He shows Alec his wrist, where CF is now golden.

"I will have to speak to Hodge about this," Alec says. "This is strange if both yours and hers have turned gold."

"You know you're basically in charge. You don't have to tell Hodge everything," Jace tells him. "I doubt this has happened in any of his books."

"I understand that, but he does know a lot. I guess this proves that she is indeed one of us, I just hope we don't get another newbie."

"What do you have against new people? Last time I checked, you haven't found your soulmate," Jace says. "She could be the next one through the door. Or you and Jess can start a forever alone club."

"They hold us back, especially when they no training like her," Alec says, ignoring the last part. "I rather not waste my time with someone who has no experience."

"So we train her. What's the big deal?" Jace asks. "We know she's got the blood. It shouldn't be too hard."

"I hope you're right."

"Guys!" Toni yells, running around.

"Infirmary!" Jace calls, moving away from the bed and back to his chair in the corner.

Toni almost slams into the doorframe as he slides to a stop, Jess and Izzy laugh as they walk up.

"I got news!" Toni exclaims happily.

"You've met MB and we can stop dealing with sulky Alec?" Jace asks.

"No, he will be forever be sulky."

"Did you meet RS?" Jess asks, her voice full of faked enthusiasm.

"Sorry, but no," Toni says.

"I don't like this game. Just tell us, Toni," Izzy says, walking over to him.

"Toni, stop with the annoying game," Gabrielle says, walking in.

"Meet my sister, Gabrielle!" Toni smiles.

"Great, another one," Alec grumbles. "Just what we need. Another untrained Shadowhunter."

"You have a sister?" Izzy asks, excited. She goes over to Gabrielle and hugs her. "I'm Isabelle, but everyone calls me Izzy."

"Hi Izzy," Gabrielle smiles, hugging her back. "You can call me Ellie."

"How do you feel about high heels?" Izzy asks her.

"I'm actually very skilled in them, I can do ballet in heels." Ellie smirks.

"You and I are going to be best friends. We're basically related anyways," Izzy tells her, then goes back over to Toni.

"You were in Pandemonium," Jess says, looking at Ellie. "You were asking me all those questions."

"Oh yea, you're Jess, right? Sorry about that, I am naturally curious about things," Ellie apologizes.

"Well, your new best friend is my parabatai, so I guess that makes us friends. It's just that Clary doesn't know about all this stuff. Mom didn't want her to. I was just honoring her wishes."

"Oh, I get it, my mom kept it from me too. But your mom did try to explain it, so did my mother but the Circle found us and they sent us away."

"I wonder why she didn't come find my father," Jess says. "Seems like Mom would have wanted her to learn about all of this from him."

"We did go to him but he was with two Circle members and said he never cared about Clary or Jocelyn and he gave away my location as well as my mother's," Ellie tells her.

"He was just trying to protect my mother and Clary," Jess says. "He told me to be careful and to pay attention to my surroundings just in case they came after me."

"Well that's all good for you two, but now I have no home and my mother is gone. They will not stop until they get me."

"They have no interest in you," Jess says. "They just want the Cup."

Ellie doesn't believe her, something else is going to happen and it won't be good for her or her family.

"Hey, I think she's waking up," Izzy says, glancing at Clary.

Clary slowly opens her eyes, before sitting up and looks around.

"Everyone out unless your name start with a J. She needs some privacy," Jess tells the others.

Everyone besides Jace leaves the room.

"What's going on?" Clary asks, looking between her sister and Jace.

"Well, it's sorta a long story," Jess tells her.


End file.
